8 hours Ago By Katie Ellis
Jennifer Lopez needs no introduction. The 55-year-old superstar has always made powerful statements with her performances. From inserting one of her songs titled into her performance during the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Joe Biden in 2021 to her 2020 Superbowl Halftime Show where she made a reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centres - JLo has done it all.
She looks back at her journey and how the protagonist in her latest movie inspires her. Jennifer Lopez: I loved it from the moment I read the script. It’s victorious and such an inspiring story.
It’s also a Latino story. It’s always important for me to play characters like Judy. The ones I feel are very relatable and inspirational.
To see where she started and where she is today is really remarkable. But, this is Anthony Robles’ story at the end of the day, and Jharrel Jerome did an amazing job playing him. The things he had to overcome, not just physically but also psychologically, to become the extraordinary person that he is today is just incredible.
Jennifer Lopez: This is not so much about wrestling; it’s about the things that we wrestle with in our lives. It’s just a really beautiful family story. Jennifer Lopez: This was something that made it more exciting.
I had such great experience earlier when I did movies where I played real characters. I feel like I know how to do that, and I’ve been doing that for a long time. Jennifer Lopez: I still use the process I did for Selena.
It is kind of inundating myself with as much information as I can find, knowing it was a true story, reading the script, liking the script. I felt like I was signing on to do a small part in a very important story about Anthony Robles, and then I realised how big a part Judy Robles was. I got to know them and their relationship through that process.
It was an honour to be able to be part of Anthony’s story and to play Judy. Jennifer Lopez: The first meeting with Judy was wonderful. We met virtually, and I had many questions.
I just wanted to know about her. I was like, ‘Just tell me about your son, about your life. Tell me what it was like when he was born.
’ Those were things that I would end up really using for the movie. My main goal in the first meeting was to make her really comfortable. To make her believe that she could trust me and that she could share things with me.
But I was only going to use things that she felt comfortable with and I thought would contribute to telling her part of the story. Jennifer Lopez: We bonded on being mothers and wanting the best for our children. Also, on struggling in our personal lives and the way that you have to kind of hide that from your children sometimes.
It was enlightening and a real opportunity to show that side of being a mother. Jennifer Lopez: It was pretty amazing because I was sitting behind them, and I am really moved by the film. I was like, God, their relationship was really a major thing.
I was happy with some of the things that I had done and I thought everybody did such a great job. Then the audience got up and were clapping. All I could think was, “Judy, Anthony, stand up! Get up, get up, get up!” They got up and of course, the audience got more and more excited.
Then I got up to give them a standing ovation and thought, ‘No, sit down, let them stand up.’ It was a mess. But it was an amazing experience.
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